of the matter and the meanes saith * Ambrose vpon 1 Cor. first Chap. In Christ Iesus is grace giuen for as much as this with GOD is decreed that who so beleeueth in Christ is saued sola fide by faith onely without workes receiuing freely forgiuenesse of sinnes And thus wee see the case to stand cleare that faith without workes is the onely meanes of iustification and saluation 18 Now then Christian Reader this doctrine of iustification by faith in Christ without workes being so easie and clearely to bee proued the truth is it not a Worlds wonder to see that so many wise and learned men should impugne it And that a Cardinall one of the Popes Pen-men Master Allen should ascribe so much vnto good workes as to say x In D. Fulkes answere Page 239. They cleanse before hand stayeth the soule from death and lifteth it vp vnto eternall life Regard not the iangler that will say mens workes doe not purge sinne and winne heauen Which doctrine being true what is it but that wee are iustified and saued by the workes of the Law whereby not onely all those testimonies of the ancient Fathers are proued false but also all those Scriptures which before we cited are confounded and these that follow which shew that we are iustified and saued onely by faith in Christ without workes are to no purpose 19 Saint Paul Ephesians 2. saith Ephes 2.8 For by grace are yee saued through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God not of workes lest any man should glorie in himselfe Also Galatians 2. he saith We which are Iewes by nature Galat. 2.15.16 and not sinners of the Gentiles know that a man is not iustified by the workes of the Law but by the faith of Iesus Christ euen wee I say haue beleeued in Iesus Christ that we might be iustified by the faith of Iesus Christ and not by the workes of the Law Galat. 3.23.24.25.26 because that by the workes of the Law no flesh shall be iustified And chap. 3. he saith Before faith came wee were kept vnder the Lawe and shut vp vnto the faith which should afterwards be reuealed wherefore the Law was our Schoolemaister to bring vs to Christ that wee might be made righteous by faith But after that faith is come wee are no longer vnder a Schoolemaister for ye are all the sonnes of God by faith in Christ Iesus And therefore as he saith Romans 4. Roman 4. If they which are of the Law bee heires faith is made voyde and the promise of God is made of none effect And yet as he saith Galatians 2. I doe not abrogate the grace of God for if righteousnesse be by the Law then Christ died without a cause So that by the doctrine of the Romish Church we see plainely that faith is made voyde the promise of God made of none effect the death of Christ needlesse and the whole matter of our iustification and saluation to consist onely in our owne deseruings And indeede to the very same effect are these words of their Cardinall Allen y Allen in Fulke pag. 154 The death of Christ doth not discharge vs of satisfaction for our sinnes nor of any other good worke whereby a man may procure his owne saluation Also the Pope saith thus in Bernardine Rosetus * Bernard We can demerite eternall life with works Therefore we ought to presume and hold for a certaintie that after this life wee shall assuredly haue eternall life for the reward of good workes And in the Summary de Grat. Sanct. Good workes demerite three things namely eternall life increase of grace and remission of sinnes 20 Truely I cannot but admire to see that men which would faine be saued will either be saued by that onely meanes whereby they shall be damned or else they will not be saued For by the workes of the Law wee see they will procure their owne saluation purge their soules from sinne deliuer them from death and lift them vp into euerlasting life And therefore as they depend vpon the Law so they must looke to haue the reward of the Law which is the curse and condemnation of it For as Saint Paul sayth Galat. 3.10 Galatians 3. As many as are of the workes of the Law are vnder the curse for it is written Cursed is euery man that continueth not in all things which are written in the Booke of the Law Galat. 5.4 to doe them And chapter the fift he sayth Yee are abolished from Christ whosoeuer are iustified by the Law yee are fallen from grace Rom. 9.30.31 And Romans 9. he sheweth this to be the cause of the condemnation of the Iewes For sayth he What shall wee say then that the Gentiles which followed not righteousnesse 32. haue attained vnto righteousnesse euen the righteousnesse which is of faith but Israel which followed the Lawe of righteousnesse could not attaine to the Law of righteousnesse Wherefore sayth hee because they sought it not by faith 33. but as it were by the workes of the Law for they haue stumbled at the stumbling stone as it is written Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a Rocke to make men fall and euery one that beleeueth in him shall not be ashamed But therefore the same iudgement is fallen vpon them Iohn 9.39 which Christ sheweth Iohn 9. himselfe came to inflict vpon those obstinate Iewes and Scribes and Pharises who sought saluation by the workes of the Law and not by faith in him I am come sayd he vnto iudgement into this world that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blinde And this blindnesse we see to be now in the Papists For notwithstanding the Apostle Saint Paul saith plainely thus of Christ 2 Corinth 5. God made him to be sinne for vs that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him they cannot see how this righteousnesse should serue the turne For as their Cardinall Allen sayth y In the said booke pag. 154 The death of Christ doth not discharge vs of satisfaction for our sinnes nor of any other good worke whereby a man may procure his owne saluation And further for those that cannot attaine vnto satisfaction the second part of our first Chapter doth shew that the want that is in them is made out by the ouer-plus of the righteousnesse of others For as the sayd Cardinall saith z In the said book pag. 239. The Church of God hath instructed thee that all workes whereby man may procure helpe to himselfe or others be the workes of the faithfull And thus we see that the same iudgement which Christ laid vpon the Iewes Scribes and Pharises he hath laid vpon them that they so little accounting of him should trust to be made righteous by themselues and others that so they might be depriued of his righteousnesse 21 Againe the Apostle Saint Paul 1.
follow Beware saith he left there be any man that spoile you through Philosophie and vaine deceit through the traditions of men according to the rudiments of the World and not after Christ And thus much touching the first Authours of Purgatory and the first place of Scripture that the heretiques brought and Montanus and his Adherents afterwards to confirme the doctrine as also to shew how it tendeth to the vtter confounding of the vertue of Christs death and passion and faith in him and how it did corrupt the Church and confound the iudgements of some ancient writers Now let vs briefly take a view how it hath also confounded the iudgements of the Papists themselues 14 First What confusion the doctrine of Purgatory hath wrought amongst the Papists themselues for the number of hels Sillius saith There beten Aeneas saith but nine Gelasius but seauen Aquines but foure Diuers of the Papists will haue fiue of which Paradise to be one which their Paullinus saith is Abrahams bosome and is in the hell of the damned Secondly touching the place where Purgatory should be Polidore saith It is in Mount Aethne in Cicilie Another saith Saint Patrike placed it in Ireland The Manachies say It is in the Globe of the Sunne Others say It is in the Globe of the Moone Some say It is vnder the South Pole Others say It is vnder the North Pole but some others say It is vnder the City of Romes for there is a deepe hole where Christ went downe with his Crosse on his backe By which we see that hell mouth is in Rome Thirdly touching the degrees of Purgatory Lutzenburge saith Purgatory is the highest of the foure hels Vaâ—â—a saith It is the highest saue one Herolt saith It is the lowest saue one Smith saith It is the lowest of all and Cardinall Allen saith It is in the lower Romes as the best learned iudge Fourthly what Christ did in Purgatory Smith saith Christ did in his soule suffer there for the sinnes of our soules Allen saith It is blasphemie to say that the Diuels had power to torment the soule of Christ Smith saith Christ preached to the soules and brought them all out with him Martion saith Christ did not deliuer all for Abel Enoch Abraham and others durst not come at him lest he would tempt them and punish them Most of the Papists say He deliuered all But Hermes saith They came not all forth till the Apostles descended and preached vnto them also Another saith Christ deliuered the Sodomites and Kaine that reprobate Allen saith Purgatory doth not belong to any but to the faithfull The master of the Sentences saith Iust men goe not into Purgatory at all Allen saith The good must passe there-through before they come to eternall ioy Smith saith After Christs resurrection the soules went no more to Purgatory Allen affirmeth that the Apostles went thither Now as touching the element wherewith the soules are purged some say it is onely fire Allen holdeth it to be both fire and water and that they shall be tormented as well with extreame cold as heate Sir Thomas More saith In Purgatory there is no water Ruffensis saith In Purgatory there is good store of water The last question is whether Diuels or Angels be the executioners Ruffensis and Albertus say They be holy Angels but Sir Thomas More saith They be Diuels Therefore Christian Reader I now referre the matter to be iudged by thee whether the Doctrine of Purgatory be such as any in his right wits will thinke he may build his faith thereon or beleeue that there is any such purging place And the rather for that it tendeth to the vtter ouerthrow of the power of all that Christ hath done for mans saluation and whereof that errour of prayers for the dead is an appendix CHAP. XIII The conclusion of the former twelue Chapters Containing an answere vnto two sorts of Papists the one affirming that we are iustified and saued by the workes of of the Law the other that wee are saued by faith and workes together That because no man can fulfill the Law no man can be iustified by the Law That God was not vniust in giuing such a Law as he knew no man was able to fulfill That to seeke to merit saluation is the high way to damnation 1 SO farre and wide Christian Reader as the Romish iurisdiction and Kingdome of Antichrist did extend it selfe this Doctrine of iustification by faith without the workes of the Law was impugned Some teaching that men by their good workes are iustified and for their good workes saued Others that we are iustified and saued by faith and workes together to both which we answere 2 All good workes are said to be the workes of the Law because God commaunded them in his Law for diuers good ends and purposes the iustification by which confisteth of two parts First in not omitting any one thing whatsoeuer the Law hath commanded Secondly in not committing any one thing whatsoeuer the Law hath forbidden which as it is in Leuiticus the eighteenth Chapter Leuit. 18.5 If a man doe he shall liue in them But contrariwise if he doe not obserue and doe all and also doe nothing to the contrary hee is so farre from being iustified by the Law that he is accursed and condemned by it 3 The affirmatiue part is proued in the seauen and twentieth Chapter of Deuteronomie Deut. 27.26 Where it is said Cursed be hee that confirmeth not all the wordes of this Law to doe them and all the people shall say So be it The negatiue part is proued Ezek. 18.11.13 Ezekiel Chap. 18. in these words If he doe any one of these things though he doe not all shall he liue seeing he hath done all these abhominations he shall surely die the death By which it is cleare that whosoeuer omitteth any one thing which the Law requireth or committeth any one thing whatsoeuer the Law prohibiteth hee is culpable of the whole And this is it which the Apostle Saint Iames saith Chapter 2. Whosoeuer shall keepe the whole Law Iames 2.10 and yet faileth in one poynt is guiltie of all Therefore now the question is whether any man can thus absolutely fulfill the Law Wee say no man can Contrariwise the Papists say that a regenerate man may And their Doctor Master Harding will proue it both by the words of Christ and also of the Apostle Saint Iohn * M. Harding in Apol. chap. 19. Diuis 1. The words of Christ Matthew 11. after their Translation be these My yoke is sweete and my burden light And the words of Saint Iohn 1. Epistle 5. Chapter be these His Commandements be not heauy Now the words of Christ that goe before those his words be these Come vnto me all ye that are weary and laden and I will ease you And then it followeth Take my yoke vpon you c. Shewing that if any were afflicted in his conscience and found himselfe
whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sinne So that hereby we see it most manifest that iustification before God consisteth in faith alone without workes euen as he also proueth as apparantly where he absolutely and vtterly excludeth all kinde of workes for being wholly or any part of the cause of iustification in that he saith Rom. 11. If it be of grace it is no more of workes If it be of workes it is no more of grace That is to say it is of the one but not of both And therefore in the third Chapter of the same Booke he closeth vp the doctrine of iustification thus Rom. 3.28 We conclude that a man is iustified by faith without the workes of the Law And thus much by proofe of Scripture touching this point also Now let vs heare the iudgement of the Fathers 10 Saint Augustine saith k August in â—â—s 83. qâ—â—stioâ—s Quest 76. Glossa ordinaria Abrahrns was iustified by faith without works Saint Hilary saith l Hila. 9. Can. Ma. 8. It moued the Scribes that sinnes was forgiuen by man for they onely beheld man in Christ Iesu and that to be forgiuen of him which the Law could not release fides enim sola iustificat for faith onely iustifieth Saint Hierome saith m Hier. 10. cap. Rom. They not knowing that God iustifieth sola fide by faith onely supposed themselues to be iust by the workes of the Law which they neuer obserued Theophilact saith n Theop. 3 cap. Gal. Because no man is iustified by the Law c. Now he doth plainly shew that fidem ipsam vel solâ—m faith it selfe yea euen alone hath power to iustifie Saint Chrisostome saith o Christost 4. Hom vpon the 1. to Tim. chap. 1. Who could hardly beleeue that enemies that sinners that such as were not iustified in the Law nor by workes that they by and by haue ex sola fide by faith onely obtayned the chiefe merite It seemed to the Iewes said heâ— an incredible thing that a man that had spent all his former life vainely and disorderly hauing passed the same in wicked workes that afterwards hee should be said to be saued sola fide by faith onely Againe he saith thus of them p In his Hom. vpon th 3. chap. to the Gala. They said who so stayeth himselfe sola fide by faith onely is accursed Contrariwise Saint Paul proueth who so stayeth sota fide by faith onely is blessed Moreouer he saith q Vpon the 4. chap. to the Rom. the 8. Ser. That a man destitute of workes should be iustified by faith that peraduenture may seeme to be well but that a man beautified with vertue and good workes should neuerthelesse by them not be iustified sed sola fide but by faith onely truely this is wonderfull And hereof it is that their Doctor Maister Harding is compelled thus to confesse r D. Har. in his booke A detection of sundry foule errours liâ—s c. in fol. 357. Wee are iustified freely without workes that may deserue the grace that God giueth To conclude Saint Origen saith Å¿ Origen 3. Bâ—â—â—ke 3. chap. Rom. Rom. 4 5. If we require an example who was iustified sola fide by faith onely without workes I suppose that the same theefe doth suffice And indeed this iâ— that remedyâ— whereby God doth saue his elect which hee calleth at the last houre whether on their death bedde or on the gallows-tree And this it is which Saint Paul saith Rom. Rom. 4.5 4. By faith God doth iustifie the vngodly And as hee sheweth that faith is the onely meanes whereby God doth saue the vngodly Gal. 3.11 Hab. 2.4 whom he vouchsafeth to call so Galla. 3. aluding to these words of the Prophet Habakkuk chapter 2. The iust shall liue by his faith hee proueth that the most righteous shall be saued by their faith onely or else they shall neuer be saued And thus much for the answering the other sort of Papists also which will haue men to be saued by faith and workes together 11 But now Christian Reader what shall wee say shal we conclude that we are iustified by such a faith as the Papists charge vs with which is generall with all the wicked which not onely is without the fruits of a true and liuely faith but hath the contrary God forbid But wee say that we are iustified by faith that is by such a faith as Saint Paul saith 2. Thess 3.2 1 Cor. 13. chap. All men haue not 2 Thess 3. Yea by that faith which hee saith worketh by loue and which Saint Iames saith James 3.17 Is full of mercie and good fruits chapter 3. Euen by the same faith which is manifested vnto men and approued of God to be a true faith which at the day of iudgement shall be tried by the fruits thereof and all iudged thereby at which time euery one that is found to haue had it shall as the Apostle Saint Peter saith 1. Ep. 1. chap. Receiue the end of his faith euen the saluation of his soule The rest that had not this fruitfull faith shall be damned as appeareth in the 25. Chapter of Saint Matthew 12 True it is that the generall sort because they beleeue Christ to be the Sauiour of the world and haue their names deriued from him to be called Christians thinke verily they shall all be saued Yea though many of them liue worse then the very Infidells But what reason haue they so to delude themselues seeing that not a few but many which preach Christ and the Christian faith shall be damned because howsoeuer they preach well and teach the truth their liues are not correspondent Our Sauiour Christ speaking of Christians and the time of triall who be true Christians indeed Matth. 7. saith Matth. 7.22.23 Not euery one that saith vnto mee Lord. Lord shall outer into the Kingdome of heauen but he that doth my fathers will which is in heauen Many will say vnto mee in that day Lord Lord haue we not by thy name prophecied and by thy name cast out Deuills and by thy name done many great workes and then saith Christ I will professe vnto them I neuer knew you Depart from mee yee that worke iniquitie And here wee see those miracle-mongers the Papists specially included who as we proued in our second Chapter worke their miracles in the name of Christ to draw men to Antichrist And as touching their conuersation of life their Saint Bridgit bringeth Christ thus reproaching them for the vilenesse thereof saying t Bridgit in her sixt Booke of Reuelation 15. chap. Their conuersation and life stinketh like a Where in my sight So that as she saith in another place v In her first Booke chap. 50. The simple sort by their bad example they hurle downe headlongs 13 But now haply they will obiect and say are wee singular
forbid and which we ought all to pray God to auert For now we see is the time come for the fulfilling of this Prophesie Lord giue a blessing to my labour and open the eyes of the blinde But now what good effect can wee looke to haue that the fruit of this our labour should any thing at all preuaile to conuert any Papists seeing we finde in the 16. Chapter 10. Verse and 9. Chapter 20.21 Verses of the Reuelation that neither the Word of God nor the iudgements of God shall conuert them surely none were it not that the Lord in the 4. Verse of the 18 Chapter had reuealed that euen to the finall destruction of Babylon he hath yet reserued some to himselfe of which sort therefore we hope it will take effect in some but for the rest we haue had sufficient experience that the more plainer and clearer the truth is made vnto them the more they will labour with their cunning shifts and sophisticall arguments to obscure it yea and if it be possible they will make it seem vntruth Howbeit euen hereby they most euidently declare themselues to be of the fellowship of those Antichristians whom S. Paul 2 Thessalonians 2 chap. sheweth the great Antichrist shall so strongly delude that they shall delight rather to beleeue his lies then Gods truth And that it may appeare to the Reader they are indeed the same what can make it more apparent then their apposing themselues against the Doctrine of Christ himselfe For whereas the Prophet Malachi chap. 4. fore-told of Elias that was to come and that our Sauiour Christ Matth. 11. expoundeth that to be meant of Saint Iohn Baptist in saying of him This is that Elias that was to come Hee that hath eares to heare let him heare They sticke not to appose themselues against his plaine exposition and constantly affirme that the same Elias is yet to come Also notwithstanding the Euangelist Saint Luke in his first chapter 17. Verse sheweth Iohn Baptist to be the same of whom Malachi fore-told who as hee saith Came in the spirit and power of Elias to prepare the way for Christ They say that the end of his comming is to appose himselfe against Antichrist And this is done to make vs beleeue that Antichrist is not yet come But in the meane time their affirming Elias to be yet to come which should come but once and that onely to manifest the Messias to bee verily come What is this but by a consequent to affirme that the Messias is yet to come and so our faith in him that is come is made voyd and of none effect Againe whereas our Sauiour Christ as appeareth Matthew 24. saith And this Gospel of the Kingdome shall be preached through out the whole World for a witnesse to all Nations and then shall the end come They peruert both words sense say And then shall Antichrist come And this also is done only to make men beleeue that Antichrist is not yet come that no man should once suspect the Pope to be he albeit the truth forceth all men to beleeue the contrary But it may well appeare they meane nothing lesse then that the truth should come to light for then N. D. the Authour of the Ward-word in alledging the 8. Verse of the 11. chapter of the Reuelation to proue the seat of Antichrist to be in Ierusalem would not haue taken out of the Text the word Spiritually which all men may see the holy Ghost put in purposely to preserue the sense that he might adde a contrary to wit such a sense of his owne as should shadow Rome for appearing to be the seate and the Pope from being Antichrist I say if hee had beene willing the Reader should haue beene resolued by truth he would neuer haue done it But what hath he gotten by this his adding and deminishing too and from the words and sense of that Prophesie let him looke into the 18. and 19. Verses of the 22. chap. of the same Booke and he shall finde it to be no lesse then eternall damnation both of body and soule because it is wittingly done Againe if he had beene willing that men should haue beene resolued by the truth he might more easily haue found out the seate of Antichrist to be in Rome then in Ierusalem because the 17. chapter of the Reuelation sheweth it to be in the Citie with seauen hills and which raigneth ouer the Kings of the earth but Ierusalem was neuer described by seauen hills nor euer raigned ouer the Kings of the earth nor any other Citie in all the world but Rome therefore not Ierusalem but Rome is the seate of Antichrist Againe if he had been willing that the truth should haue resolued the Reader who hee is that is in deed and truth the great Antichrist hee would neuer haue wrested and falsified so many places of Scripture as appeareth in his Ward-word Page 91.92 he hath done wittingly to proue him a Iewe and to dominiere onely ouer that one Nation of the Iewes I say if hee had beene willing that men should haue beene resolued by the truth he would neuer haue done it If he shall charge vs with doing him wrong for saying hee hath wrested and falsified the places he hath cited I say againe not any one of his places doth proue the point if it did then hee hath done himselfe the wrong for that after so many places cited hee bringeth in the 5. Verse of the 13. chapter of the Reuelation which being vnderstood as he would haue it of Antichrist the three next Verses following proueth him a Gentile and a Roman vnto whom as the Text saith Power was giuen ouer euery kindred tongue and Nation and whom the World worshipped So that here he hath vtterly shamed himselfe for that this Text as he vnderstandeth it proueth all his former obiections but Antichristian illusions and fond fables Againe if he had beene willing that the Reader should haue beene resolued by the truth hee would not haue laboured to haue enduced him to beleeue that Antichrist should seduce the Iewes that they should receiue him for their Messias and Sauiour seeing he cannot proue by any one place of Scripture from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of the Reuelation that there shall be any other translation or alteration of the Iewes state to come but onely that in the 11. to the Romans which Saint Paul sheweth shall be their conuertion to Christ and the same to continue to the comming of Christ to iudgement Againe if he had beene willing men should haue beene resolued by the truth hee would neuer haue expounded the Image of the Heathenish Roman gouernement to be a painted picture or a carued Image the likenesse of some kind of cattell or beast onely to blind the World that men should not see the Popish gouernement to be the Image Howbeit let them looke into the 8. verse of the 14. chap. and they shall see and
may be called before the comming of Christ to iudgement yet all men may see plainely that Antichrist is alreadie come and that the Pope and euerie Pope in his time and place is hee Yea this is the Luciferiall aspiring fellow of whose rise and fall their Paracelsus saith * Parasel in his twelfth figured Prediâ—â— on directed to the Pope Oftentimes one doth place himselfe well but it is in vaine except his seat be such as cannot fall together with him that sitteth thereon And behold thou hast lifted vp thy selfe on high but it is not thy place neyther shalt thou abide aboue for thou are a yoake and a burthen vnfit to be borne hence it is holy Father S.P. that thou fallest Thou hast placed thy selfe aboue God and hee shall returne vnto thee the reward thou hast sought to wit worldly glorie and praise which thou hast greedily heaped vpon thine head but as all worldly things doe so shalt thou perish So that who seeth not but that Antichrist is come THE FOVRTH OBIECTION 11 The proper Antichrist by all reason and likelihood must be a Iewe borne and circumcised and will professe at least for a while to keepe the Iewes Sabbath and other Ceremonies of the olde Lawe to draw them after him and they shall accept of him for their Messias as before hath beene shewed out of Christs owne words which they would neuer doe except he were a Iewe both by generation and profession which two things can neyther bee verified of the Popes of Rome to wit that they are eyther Iewes by birth or doe professe the Iewes Doctrine THE ANSWERE 12 Here Christian Reader is a long circumstance including many properties of Antichrist but not so much as any one Scripture or Father to confirme any one point therefore I may sufficiently answere him by bare denying all that he affirmeth and thereupon conclude that by all reason and likelihood Antichrist shall neither bee a Iew by birth nor yet by profession but a Gentile and a Romane Howbeit for as much as bare negatiues no more disprooue any thing then bare affirmatiues prooue any thing of eyther side the matter shall not so passe First then as concerning Iewish Ceremonies who knoweth not how full of them their Church is as abstenance from certaine meates washings purifyings and sacrificing for sinne As also the retayning certaine ceremoniall garments as the Myter the Cope the Ephod sensing the Priests with Incense holy Oyle holy Bread the Wafer-kake Arons Bell and to many such like too tedious to repeate and for Iewish Doctrine in the maine poynt for the ouerthrow of manssaluation they rightly agree with them who held of iustification by the workes of the Law as they doe Secondly whereas he saith that Antichrist shall be a Iew both by generation and profession it is neither his yea nor my nay that shall serue but wee will haue indifferent Iudges betweene both and who shall these be euen S. Ireneus who they may not refuse and their Abbot Ioacham who they cannot refuse Ireneus out of the number of the Letters Apoccalips 13. saith x Jreneus in his fift Booke and Epistles of Antichrist Antichrist is Zatinos a Roman y Ioacham Abbas Ioacham saith Antichrist long since was borne in Rome and shall be higher aduanced in the Apostolicke Sea So then Antichrist shall be a Romane not a Iew and the same that shall bee exalted into Peters Chaire which he cannot deny to bee the Pope onely therefore he cannot denie the Pope onely to bee the great Antichrist THE FIFT OBIECTION 13 Antichrist when he commeth shall pitch his Kingdome in the Citie of Ierusalem and goe about to restore the Temple of Salomon as is plainely gathered out of Saint Iohns words Apocal. 11. where he saith that the bodies of Henoch and Elias that shall be slaine by him shall lie vnburied in the streetes of the great Citie where their Lord was crucified And the same is deduced out of the same Booke cap. 17. and out of Saint Paules wordes 2. Thessal 2. and by many ancient Writers And how then can the Popes of Rome be Antichrist THE ANSWERE 14 Here now to induce vs not to looke for Antichrist in Rome he telleth vs he shal pitch his kingdome in Ierusalem and for proofe he citeth three places of Scripture the first out of the 8. verse of the 11. chap. of the Reuela which hee abuseth most damnably For all men may see by the Text that the Holy Ghost purposely to preserue the sense put in the middle of the verse these words Which spiritually is called Sodome and Aegypt Which words hee hath left out and cunningly closed vp both ends of the verse together in Roman Letters as though those words had not beene in the originall Tongue which caused mee to haue the Greeke Coppies searched and also to see their owne translation in the Remish Testament in both which these words are extant So that it appeareth that because he saw that neither according to the expresse words of the Text as the Holy Ghost had set them downe nor yet according to the sense the place would proue Ierusalem properly to be the seate of Antichrist he therfore fraudulently omitted those words to frame the rest for his purpose which if he had done the like in the 17. chap. these words A mysterie great Babylon And also these words The seuen heads are seuen Mountaines whereon the woman sitteth all the Diuines in the World could neuer haue found out the great Antichrist nor his seate But the case is cleare that forasmuch as the place where Christ was crucified is there noted to be the seate of Antichrist but in a spirituall signification the Holy Ghost did not meane Ierusalem but Rome because Rome then raigning ouer Ierusalem Christ was put to death in her iurisdiction and by her onely authoritie Iohn 18.31 for Pilate Romes deputie was his Iudge who finding Christ guiltlesse would faine haue shuffeled him off into the Iewes hands to haue condemned him but they refusing said Wee haue no authoritie to put any man to death Whereupon Pilate proceeded and gaue sentence of death vpon him therefore Rome may well be said to be the place where Christ was crucified and the Citie where the Holy Ghost meaneth Antichrist should pitch his Kingdome But they say no and who then shall be Iudge betweene vs that shall that notable Diuine Erasmus who saith thus of Rome z Erasmus vpon the 11. chap. of the Reuela This Citie is in sigure and similitude the Citie of Ierusalem 15 Secondly Sect. 2 out of the same verse he would proue that Antichrist should goe about to build againe the Temple of Ierusalem in which there is not any one word to be found that doth proue it But this glosse also he setteth vpon the Text to blind the eyes of the ignorant and to make them beleeue that that should be the Temple of God in which S Paul 2 Thessal
2. said Antichrist shall sit as God But I demaund how this can be said to be the Temple of God where God neuer sate ne put his name ne was serued but should be built onely for that great Idol Antichrists vse S. Augustine saith a Augustine de Ciuitate Dei 〈◊〉 20. cap. 19. The Temple of an Idoll or of a Deuill the Apostle would neuer call the Temple of God And therefore seeing as we heard before S. Hierome said that by the Temple is meant the Church this can neither bee that Temple in which S. Paul said Antichrist should sit as God nor Bellarmines Iew be that Antichrist which Saint Paul meant should sit in the Temple of God Now therefore the question is whether the Pope of Rome be hee which S. Paul said should sit as God in the Temple of God exalting himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped They say no wee say yea and who then shall determine the matter that shall foure of their owne side Bernard Ioacham Abbas Paracelsus and Auentine Bernard bewailing the state of the Church vnder the Popes of his time saith b Bernard Serm. 6. in Psalm 91. There remayneth nothing now but that the man of sinne bee reuealed euen the sonne of perdition which is not onely changed into an Angel of Light but is exalted aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped Ioacham sheweth plainely in diuers places of his Writings c Ioacham in his Commentarie vpon Jeremie besides other places in diuers of his Predictions That hee it is which exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped which is called holy Lord and most holy Pope Their Paracelsus wrote thus to the Pope d Paracelsus in his 12. sigured Prediction Behold thou hast lifted vp thy selfe on high but it is not thy place neither shalt thou abide aboue And a little after Thou hast placed thy selfe aboue God Their writer Auentine saith thus of the Pope and euery particular of them e Auentine in his Chron. printed at Ingolstade anno 1554. They sit in the Temple of God and they bee exalted aboue all that is worshipped Hee which is the seruant of seruants doth couet to be Lord of Lords as if he were God He speaketh great things as if he were God He changeth Lawes he establisheth his owne he robbeth he spoyleth he couseneth he slayeth that wicked man whom commonly they call Antichrist in whose forehead is a name written a name of Blasphemie I am God I cannot erre He sitteth in the Temple of God and beareth rule farre and wide And thus we see the matter determined by these foure vnpartiall Iudges and the question fully resolued that the Pope is that great Antichrist the Man of Sinne which S. Paul fore-told should Sit as God in the Temple of God exalting himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped And this may also suffice for the answering the third place which hee citeth out of that 2 Thes 2. to haue proued the seat of Antichrist to be Ierusalem Now to the second place The second place which hee citeth is the seuenteenth Chapter of the Reuelation then which he could not haue brought a more plainer place to proue the contrarie For in that the Angel calleth that Citie which he there speaketh of The great Citie which raigneth ouer the Kings of the earth He did not onely cleare Ierusalem for that it neuer raigned ouer the Kings of the earth but also certifieth vs that he meant Rome because Rome onely raigned ouer the Kings of the earth and the Emperour of Rome was then Emperour of the World Againe for as much as the Angel noteth out that Citie which S. Iohn there speaketh of by seauen Hills whereon it is built He not only cleared Ierusalem but also assureth vs that he meant Rome And all that are of any reading doe know that Ierusalem was neuer described by seauen Hils and that Rome and none other City in all the world is so described as Rome is by the names of these Hils Capitolinus Palatinus Auentinus Cicilius Scuen Hills Exquilinus Veminalis and Quinalis So that forasmuch as that Citie mentioned in the seauenteenth Chapter is distinguished from Ierusalem by those two speciall notes namely by raigning ouer the Kings of the earth and by being built vpon seauen Hils it is cleare without all contradiction that Rome onely is that place where the great Antichrist should pitch his Kingdome and consequently that the spirituall gouemour thereof and none other is he But they say no and who then shall be ludge betweene vs that shall their Abbot Ioacham Erasmus and their Bishop Cataldus Finius Ioacham writing vpon that seauenteenth Chapter of the Reuelation saith f Joacham The verie Text it selfe doth teach that the Woman begilded with gold and which committeth spirituall fornication with the Princes of the earth is the verie Church of Rome Erasmus writing also vpon the same Chapter saith g â—rasmus Sect. 3. These Hills agree with the hills of Rome Againe The woman in the great Citie is he which hath exalted himselfe for a Bishop ouer all Bishops and that raigneth ouer Emperours and Kings sitting also in the place of Christ And in the Chapter going before thus h Erasmus That beast of Rome of whom we spake before is the verie right Antichrist which worketh against the Gospel of Christ Cataldus saith i Cataldus Bishop of Trent in a Prophesic of his Rome is Babylon the damned pit of Priests And how then can Bellarmine with any credite or shew of truth say that Antichrist shall pitch his Kingdome in Ierusalem or that the Pope is not he THE SIXT OBIECTION 17 Three principall heads of Antichrists deuillish Doctrine when he commeth are plainely gathered out of holy Scripture The first that he shall denie Iesus to be Christ 1. Iohn 2. cap. 22. and consequently deny Baptisme and all other Sacraments and Doctrines brought in by Christ The second that he shall teach himselfe to be Christ and the Iewes shall beleeue him Iohn 5. The third that he shall affirme himselfe to be God and so require to be adored for God 2 Thessal 2.4 But the Popes of Rome doe not teach these poynts of Doctrine hetherto and therefore cannot be Antichrist THE ANSWERE 18 The former Chapter plainely proueth the Popes of Rome to teach all these three poynts of Doctrine and therefore Bellarmine himselfe must graunt the Pope and euery Pope in his time and place to be that Antichrist THE SEVENTH OBIECTION 19. Againe the Scripture teacheth vs that Antichrist when he commeth shall doe many wonderfull miracles in the sight of men Matth. 24. and 2. Thessal 2. and some of those miracles are specified Apoc. 13. to wit that he shall make fire descend from heauen and the Image of a beast to speake and saine himselfe to die and rise againe But these miracles no Pope hitherto hath
And when I had opened the fift Seale I saw vnder the Alter the soules of them that were killed for the Word of God and for the testimonie which they maintained And they cried with a loud voyce saying How long Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth and long white robes were giuen to euery one and it was said vnto them that they should rest for a little season vntill their fellow-seruants and their brethren that should be killed euen as they were were fulfilled Loe say they here is a third place euen a place where the soules of the faithful doe rest vntill the latter day To which we answer The Alter vnder which the soules are said to rest The Altar is Christ is Christ as who so will reade the 56. Chapter of Esay and seuenth verse And 60. Chapter 7. verse of the same Prophet and 8. Chapter 3. verse of the Reuelation shall see or that will listen to these testimonies of these three ancient Fathers shall heare to wit Saint Ireneus Saint Augustine and Epyphanius Ireneus saith g Jreneus in his 4. Booke and 34. Chap. Our Alter is not in earth but in heauen Saint Augustine saith h Augustine in his 20. Booke 10. Chap. of the City of God Our Alter is in heauen thither our prayers and oblations are directed Epyphanius saith i Epiphanius in his 2. Booke of Melchisadech Christ is our Sacrifice our Priest and our Alter So that we see euidently that by the Alter is meant Christ and therefore the place in which the soules of the faithfull doe rest till the day of iudgement is vnder the foote-stoole of Christ in Heauen Wherefore those words of Saint Iohn doth not proue a third place Also this is made more manifest by the 15. verse of the 7. Chapter where he speaking of the same soules Reuel 7.15 saith They are in the presence of the Throne of God And therefore whereas the Papists would haue this place of rest Elisius Campus Abrahams bosome or Paradise to be their Elisius Campus a place of pleasure in hell which they say is Paradise or Abrahams Bosome here they are compelled either to say that the Throne of God is in hell or else to grant that the resting place of those soules is in Heauen and then where is their third place yet proued 6 But forasmuch as those words in the 6. Chapter together with the other words in the 7. Chapter doe shew the resting place of the soules of the faithful to be in heauen and a place where they do crie for the time of the perfecting their full ioy and glory it is cleare that vnder the foote-stoole of Christ is the Celestiall Paradise which in the 16. Chapter of Saint Lukes Gospell is called Abrahams Bosome where Lazarus the goâ—d thiefe Paradise is in heauen not in hâ—ll and all the faithfull doe rest with Abraham the Father of the faithfull till they receiue together the full fruition of their faith So that hereby wee see Paradise to be in Heauen and not in hell as they fable And this is yet made more plaine by Saint Paul 2 Cor. 12. where he saith I know a man in Christ about foureteene yeeres agone 2 Cor. 12.2.4 which was taken vp into the third Heauen How that he was taken vp into Paradise By which it is most manifest that Paradise is in the highest Heauen and that therefore their hellish Paradise in which they faine their purified soules of Purgatory doe rest till the last day is fabulous and doth not proue a third place 7 But now I doe expect they will answer thus Be it as you say that Paradise is in Heauen and that therein is the resting place of the soules of the faithfull yet is there at least a third place in which they did rest for a time to wit till they were purified and made fit for Heauen For to the very same effect are these words of Cardinall Allen k Allen in Fulks page 139. By long amending by fire at last they come to that reward Againe speaking of Purgatory fire he saith l Page 130. Through which the good must passe before they come to eternall ioy By which they would haue vs to vnderstand that no soule can come into the presence of God in Heauen Soules are in heauen because they haue washed themselues white in the bloud of the Lambe noâ— in the fire of Purgatory but onely such as are purified by the fire of Purgatory and that those that are in Heauen are there because first they were so purified Which how vntrue it is these words in the 14. and 15. verses of the 7. Chapter of the Reuelation will make it most euident which saith They haue washed their long Robes white in the bloud of the Lambe therefore are they in the presence of the Throne of God and serue him in his Temple day and night Now in that the holy Ghost saith Therefore it is as cleare as the Sunne at noone day that all those that are admitted into the presence of God in Heauen are so dignified because by the hands of their faith they haue washed themselues white in the bloud of Christ not in the fire of Purgatory Wherefore as those words before cited did vtterly ouerthrow their hellish Paradise so doth these words vtterly ouerthrow their hellish Purgatorie 8 Thirdly to proue yet that the soules are made perfect by the fire of Purgatorie they cite the words of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 1 Cor. 3.13 3. where he speaking of ignorant Teachers and their doctrine saith Euery mans worke shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be reuealed by fire Which words they would make the World to beleeue are meant of the fire of Purgatory that shall as they say purge curious and vaine doctrine and those that haue built it on the foundation Christ whereas the very words themselues doe make it plaine to the contrary for in that it saith the day shall declare it 2 Pet. 1 Chap. 19 verse 2 Thes 2. ch 8. he meant the truth the light whereof Saint Peter calleth The day-starre 2. Epistle 1. Chapter And the power thereof Saint Paul 2 Thessalonians 2. Chapter 8 calleth the Spirit of Gods mouth wherewith he sheweth that Antichrist and all Antichristian Teachers and their doctrine shall be consumed euen as fire consumeth the drosse and fineth the gold and siluer And therefore in that Chapter where hee speaketh of purging by fire that no man should vnderstand him to meane a corporall or materiall fire hee concludeth of that matter thus 1 Cor. 3.8 As it were by the fire That is as it were by fire the vaine doctrine shall be burned and consumed by the fire of Gods truth and the Teacher thereof being tryed thereby to hold the foundation sound the Church shall not condemne him as an heretique
to wash away our sinnes And how then after this life can we helpe our selues in Purgatory So that by this wee see how friuilous and vaine the doctrine of Purgatory is and also how fantasticall their Purgatory Proctors are especially their Cardinall Allen Cardinall Allen in D. Fulkes answere to a false Catholique who in so many places of his Booke affirmeth that wee are purified in that fire as gold is in the Furnace That by suffering the paines of Purgatory we are made perfect That by suffering the torments of Purgatory wee doe satisfie Gods iustice for sinne which how true it is let vs consider a little further and how it will stand with the truth of the Scriptures 11 First to beate them with their owne rod Wisedome 3.1 their owne Canonicall Scripture the third of Wisdome saith The soules of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them Now if no torment shall touch their soules how can Purgatory fire purifie them as fire purifieth gold or they be made perfect or satisfie Gods iustice by suffering those torments which shall not so much as once touch them The 16. Chapter of Saint Lukes Gospell declareth plainely Luke 16.23.24 25 26. that those sinners that are not forgiuen in this life cannot after this life be discharged by paines and punishments And hereof it is which Iustinus Martyr writing vpon the same Chapter saith * Iustinus 2.60 to Orthodosâ—â—s This is a plaine and manifest doctrine of Diues and Lazarus by which is taught that after the departing of the soule from the body men cannot by any meanes bring profit or commodity vnto them And as touching those that are forgiuen in this life Saint Chrisostome saith as plainely x Chrysost in â—is â—4 Hoâ—â— vpon Genesis Where there is forgiuenesse there is no punishment Also forasmuch as Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5. speaking of the generall resurrection saith Euery man shall then receiue the things which are done in his bodie according to that he hath done whether it be good or euill I would haue them to shew me but some one place either in the Old or New Testament that doth testifie that God hath appointed such a punishment for the soules in the meane time as shall set the bodies free for the punishment due for that they had done and forced their soules to doe If they can shew me none then it is certaine that there is no such punishment ordained of God and consequently no such place of punishment And therefore all these circumstances duely considered what reason haue wee to beleeue their old Philosophicall doting doctrine of Purgatory Yea or why should we beleeue that the soules of the righteous goe thither immediately after death seeing the Preacher declareth plainely Eccle. 12.7 Eccle. 12. that they goe presently to heauen For saith he And dust returne to the earth as it was and the spirit returne to God that gaue it Luke 16.22 And seeing also Saint Luke in the 16. Chapter of his Gospell saith of Lazarus And the beggar died Luke 23.43 and was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome which we shewed to be the celestiall Paradise in Heauen And seeing Christ also said to the good thiefe This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Nay seeing the Bishop of Rome himselfe saith euen Gregory the Great y Greg. in his 4. Bookes of Dialogues 25. Chap. It is most certaine that the soules of the righteous being loosed from the flesh are receiued into the heauenly seates Now then if that be true that the Bishop of Rome cannot erre then the Papists although they will not beleeue Salomon nor Saint Luke nor our Sauiour Christ yet dare they not surely but beleeue the Pope of Rome that the soules of the righteous presently after death goe straight to heauen from whence they will not say they returne downe into Purgatory therefore it is cleare there is iust no such place at all 12 And thus Christian Reader thou hast seene most manifestly confuted Cardinall Allen in Fulke to a false Catholique that fond fable of Cardinall Allen Pag. 178. where he basheth not to say that all the ancient Fathers agreed in one for the approbation of the doctrine of Purgatory whereas we see that it was not possible for any of them to speake more directly and expresly with it then these their testimonies are against it and that howsoeuer that heresie mingled with the truth did wonderfully confound some of their iudgements so as that the best learned of them could scarcely tell how to conclude of the matter yet these their testimonies may absolutely resolue vs how wee are to conclude thereof Neuerthelesse let men vary neuer so much the truth is consonant and agreeable to it selfe neither neede any to differ therein if they will square their doctrine by Saint Pauls rule Romans 12. namely Rom. 12.6 that it agree with the true proportion and analogy of faith But how this doctrine of Purgatory doth agree therewith these three principles collected out of the said Booke of Doctor Fulkes answer to Master Allen will make it plaine First in Page 92. Allen saith Cardinall Allen in Fulke Purgatory paines doth not onely serue Gods iustice for the punishment of sinne but also cleanseth and qualifieth the soule of man defiled Secondly in Page 154. he saith The death of Christ doth not discharge vs of satisfying for our sinnes nor of any other good worke whereby a man may procure his owne saluation Thirdly in Page 133. he saith In Purgatory we must be holden from life and liberty till we haue paid the vtmost farthing the toleration of which bonds shall recompence the debt Now how this doctrine can stand with the true proportion and analogy of faith in Christ or not altogether withstand it The doctrine of Purgatory against the faith let the discreet Reader iudge For if Purgatory paines doe serue both for the satisfying of Gods iustice and also for the purging of our soules from sin that Christ by his death did not so satisfie for them but that we our selues must make a better more perfect satisfaction euen to the vtmost farthing or be holden in Purgatory for euer from life and liberty what hath Christ done for vs and to what purpose at all serued his death and bloud-shedding or what doth faith in him auaile at all 13 But seeing the doctrine of Purgatory is such as cannot stand with the true proportion and analogy of faith it is cleare it is not grounded vpon the truth of Gods Word but vpon the opinions of those faithlesse Philosophers who as we said for want of Gods Law and Testaments and the rule of his truth to haue enlightened their iudgements did but by the rules of the Law of nature meerely guesse at this point as they did of God and other diuine things whose fantasies Saint Paul Colos 2 8. Colos 2.8 forbiddeth vs to
the sinnes of others Thirdly to stay their soules from death Fourthly to purchase Heauen And lastly to lift vp and place their soules in Heauen They will haue all by their owne deseruings or they will haue none all by merits or else no bargaine therefore let vs see what wee can say further vnto them touching this point 25 Our Sauiour Christ Matthew 5. saith Blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the Kingdome of Heauen Now this word Poore is a metaphor taken from a man that is so very poore as that hee hath not wherewith to sustaine his owne life but is faine to seeke to others for succour And such are they which finde themselues so greatly destitute of soules sustenance as that they are glad to seeke to others for reliefe euen to God for his mercy and to Christ for his merites 26 Such a blessed poore man was Saint Basil as may appeare by these his words h Basil vpon the 32. Psalm He that trusteth not in his owne good deeds nor hopeth to be iustified by his workes hath the onely hope of his saluation in the mercies of God Also such a blessed poore man was Saint Augustine as appeareth by these his words i Aug. vpon the 142. Psal Lord for thy name sake shalt thou quicken mee in thy righteousnesse Not in mine not because I haue deserued it but because thou hast mercy on me Also such a blessed poore man was Saint Hierome as appeareth by these his words k Hier. 64. of Esay If we behold our owne merits wee shall be driuen to desperation Yea and notwithstanding Saint Bernard acknowledgeth himselfe also to be one of these poore Publicans in that he saith of himselfe l Ber. vpon the Psal qui habitat My merites is the mercy of God yet they will rather be condemned with the proud Pharises then be iuslified with the poore Publicans To be briefe whereas their Master Harding saith m D. Harding in his booke A direction of sundry soule errours lies c. in fol. 357. Wee are iustified freely without workes that may deserue the grace that God giueth Here he hath condemned their doctrine of iustification by workes to be most false and erroneous but in that that hee includeth that workes may deserue the grace that God giueth he hath proued himselfe a notable heretique For as Saint Augustine saith n Aug. in his 46. Epistle Vnderstand that the forenamed Epistle to Sixtus an Elder of the Church of Rome is written against the Pelagians the new heretiques which affirme the grace of God to be giuen according to merits that he that glorieth should not glorie in the Lord but in himselfe that is in man and not in the Lord. And therefore in another place hee saith o In the same Epistle Let no man say that for the merits of his workes or for the merits of his prayers or for the merit of his faith the grace of God is giuen vnto him And so that which those heretiques say be counted true namely that according to our merits the grace of God is giuen then the which nothing can be more false But as he saith in another place p In his booke of predestination of Saints chap. 9. They that glorie should not glorie in their owne merits which they perceiue to be like vnto the merits of them that shall be damned but should glorie in the Lord. Whereupon saith Saint Ambrose q Ambrose in his 1. booke and 5. chapter of the calling of the Gentiles Like as there is none so detestable outragious as can restraine the free gift of grace so can there be no worke so excellent that this which is freely giuen should be due vnto them by action of debt for then the redemption of Christ should in deed be no thing worth neither should the worthinesse of mans workes be inferiour to the mercie of God Whereupon their Writer Waldensis saith r Walden in his booke against Wilelesse I take him therefore to be the sounder Diuine the faithfuller Catholique and more agreeable to the holy Scriptures that vtterly denieth all such kinde of merits And thus much for the conclusion of the twelue Chapters referring the whole matter to be iudged by all that shall reade them Whether they can possibly be true Catholique Christians which in stead of one God will haue hundreds as appeareth in our first Chapter and in stead of one Sauiour to haue many thousands as appeareth in the same Chapter That will haue the Pope to be the very Vicar of Christ whom in our second Chapter wee proued to be that great Antichrist shewed by Saint Paul 2 Thessa 2. to be the Arch-enemie of Christ and all true Christians That will haue Rome to be the Mother of all Christian Churches which in our third Chapter we proued to be that Babylon which the Angel in the seauenteenth Chapter of the Reuelation calleth The mother of Whordomes and abhominations of the earth That will haue his Church as it is now Christian to be the true Church of Christ Which in our fourth Chapter we proued to be the same idolatrous Church professing Christ mentioned by the Angell in the 13. Chapter and 17. Chapter of the Reuelation That will haue their Church to be the most auncient Apostolique and Catholique Church which in our fifth Chapter we proued had no being at all for the space of sixe hundred and sixe yeares next after Christ That will haue the succession of Vniuersall Popes to descend from Saint Peter which we proued in our sixth Chapter to descend but from Boniface the third Bishop of Rome of that name made Vniuersal Pope by that Murtherer Phocas â—he Emperour in the yeare of Christ 607. In which yeare the first Vniuersall Pope being made the Popish Church must needes first begin For as before Christ was there could be no Christian Church so before there was an Vniuersall Pope there could be no Popish Church Therefore their Church hauing her first beginning but sixe hundred and seauen yeares after Christ the antiquity thereof is ouerthrowne our Church proued to be more ancient by sixe hundred and sixe yeares That will haue the Popes supreame title and dignitie approued of by generall consent of Councells and Fathers which in our seauenth Chapter we proued to be gain said and withstood by Councells and Fathers till the yeare of Christ 607. That will haue Peter to be made supreame Head of all the Apostles by Christ himselfe the contrary whereof wee proued in our eighth Chapter by Christs expresse Commaundement and therefore the Pope cannot claime his Supremacie from Peter That will haue the true Church knowne by retaining seauen Sacraments which in our ninth Chapter we proued that to Saint Chrisostomes time which was about foure hundred yeares after Christs Incarnation it was knowne by retaining onely two Sacraments and afterwards no Christian Church knowne by the iust number of seauen till Antichrist was borne in Rome That will haue the idolatrous Masse to be the ordinance of Christ which in the same Chapter we proued cannot be because it tendeth to the vtter ouerthrow of the power of Christs death and passion as also because it was not begun to be framed till about one hundred and nineteene yeares after Christ and not finished of more then sixe hundred yeares after And confessed by their Iohannes Boemos to be inuented by certaine Bishoppes of Rome whose names wee haue produced in the same Chapter as himselfe nominated them That will haue those words in the sixt chapter of Saint Iohns Cospel touching the eating his flesh and drinking his bloud to bee meant of a corporall kinde of eating which heresie wee proued in our tenth Chapter Christ reproued the carnall Capernaites for As also will haue those words in the sixe and twentieth Chapter of Saint Matthews Gospel Take eate this is my Body to be literally vnderstood that they might worship the bread for Christ and make an Idoll of it That will haue Saints prayed vnto and worshipped which as we proued in our eleuenth Chapter is to robbe God of two speciall parts of his glory Lastly that will haue men to make a better satisfaction for sinne then Christ hath made for them be better purged from their sinne in the fire of Purgatory then Christ hath by his bloud or be holden from life and libertie for euer which as we proued in our twelfth Chapter tendeth to the vtter ouerthrow of all that Christ hath done for the saluation of man kinde To conclude we see in this Chapter of Conclusion they will haue men to seeke iustification by the workes of the Law that so they might be brought vnder the curse and condemnation of it for not fulfilling all that the Law requireth They will haue men to purchase heauen by their owne deseruing thereby to proue his death to be needlesse and faith in him of none effect And notwithstanding that case to stand cleare that these be paâ—â— of those Antichristian lies wherewith Saint Paul 2 Thess 2. shewed the great Antichrist should deceiue those that loued not the truth But had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse They bash not to say The Pope cannot be holden with any Religion of a lie FINIS
in this poynt haue you no such badde Ministers among your selues I answere I hope none so bad as our former Chapters haue demonstrated God forbid wee should For mine owne part I know none such But this I know that if any amongst vs will perswade himselfe that because he preacheth Christ truely and the true Christian faith that therefore hee hath the true and iustifying faith whereby he shall be saued when as hee hath not the fruites of the true and iustifying faith let him say what hee will it is certaine he hath not that faith and therefore he cannot be saued For as Saint Iames saith chap. 2. James 2.14 What auaileth it my brethren though a man say he hath faith when hee hath no workes can that faith saue him It is one thing for a man to say he hath faith and another thing to haue it indeede 14 Therefore that no man should delude himselfe Saint Paul thus admonisheth euery man saying 2 Cor. 13. 2 Cor. 13.5 Proue your selues whether yee are in the faith examine your selues But how shall a Minister know for certaine whether he be in the faith Shall he know it by being furnished with sufficient gifts fit for his calling no. For as Saint Paul declareth 1 Cor. 1 Cor. 12.8.9 12. A man may haue the gift of knowledge and not the gift of faith But may he know it by wel disposing the gift of his knowledge to the begetting and increasing of faith in others no. For albeit the Word which hee preacheth may beget faith vnto saluation in others yet as the same Apostle sheweth Cor. 11. 2 Cor. 11. hee himselfe may be a castaway But how then shall he know it truly by none other thing but by this euen by hauing the fruits of the true and sauing faith which grow by degrees in him by the conscionable and diligent practizing of that which he preacheth to others 15 God at the first ordination of Priesthood as appeareth Exod. 28.30 Exod. 28. caused Aaron to set in the brest-plate of his garment Vrim and Thummim which signified perfection of knowledge and holinesse of life So that notwithstanding many doe attaine vnto a very great measure of perfection of Vrim yet wee see by our Sauiour Christ Matth. Matth. 7. 7. that for want of the like measure of Thummim they shall be damned Yea the like measure I say because our Sauiour himselfe saith Luke 12.48 Luke 12. Vnto whom much is committed of him much is required If then those that haue not Thummim answerable to their Vrim shall be damned they must needes be damned which haue not Thummim in any good measure answerable much more they that haue the contrary and truely no maruell For it is certaine that one such with his badde life doth more hurt in the Church of God then a great many do good by their good Doctrine Luke 12.47 and therfore as our Sauiour saith Luke 12. they shall receiue the greater damnation And not onely because they know their Maisters will and doe it not but also because they liue wickedly and yet will preach For doe they not know that the Lord himselfe hath forbidden such to preach Psalme 50.16 Psalme the 50. where it is said But vnto the wicked said God what hast thou to doe to declare mine Ordinances that thou shouldest take my Couenant in thy mouth seeing thou hâ—test to be reformed Wherefore for that they will take vpon them to execute the office of Gods Ministers and liue so greatly to the dishonour of God as the sonnes of Eli did the Lord will surely say vnto them 1 Samuel 2. chap. 30. Rom. 3.18 as hee said vnto Eli 1 Samuel 2. Them that honour mee I will honour and they that despise mee shall bee despised 16 And now as we see that none that preach the Gospell can by their diligent preaching onely assure themselues that they haue a true and iustifying faith no more can we that be their hearers by our onely diligent hearing but by practising that which wee heare the Word of God command Luke 13 26. Iames 1.22 And therefore it is that Saint Iames saith Chap. 1. Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers onely deceiuing your owne selues By which wee see it euident and plaine that not preaching but practising not hearing but doing is that that can assure a man that he hath that true and iustifying faith And that not all in like measure for it will not be accepted of God that he which hath receiued Gods gifts in a great measure should doe no more and be no more bountifull then hee that receiued them in a small measure And therefore it is that Saint Peter saith 1 Epist 1. Epistle of Peter 4.10 4 Chap. Let euery man as he hath receiued the gift minister the same one to another as good disposers of the manifold graces of God If any man speake let him talke as the words of God If any man minister let him doe it as of the ability which God ministreth that God in all things may be glorified through Iesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion for euer and euer Amen But if he that is worth a thousand pounds will doe no more then he that is worth but an hundred pounds or he that is worth an hundred pounds no more then he that is worth but an hundred shillings these are not good disposers of the manifold graces of God and therefore when the day of reckoning shall come how they will answere it I leaue to God and their owne consciences 17 And now to returne to our aduersaries thus I say that forasmuch as this being the generall doctrine of our Church that none can be saued by such a faith as is without good workes they doe vs manifest wrong in charging vs to teach against good workes and that we are saued by an idle faith that hath no workes whereas we say that we are iustified and saued by the faith which hath good workes but without the workes because faith onely doth apprehend the matter of our iustification which is not possible for workes to doe For as Saint Paul saith of Christ Acts 13. Be it knowne vnto you men and brethren that through this man is preached vnto you the forgiuenesse of sinnes and from all things from which ye could not be iustified by the Law of Moses by him enery one that beleeueth is iustified Many when they heare vs speake of iustification doe not consider the point for they suppose that wee speake of the matter when indeede wee speake onely of the meanes For to speake properly of the matter it is neither faith of it selfe nor faith and workes together that doth iustifie vs before GOD but as we see it is Christ Iesus onely of himselfe and by himselfe that doth both iustifie and saue But as touching the meanes wee say it is faith alone And hereof it is which Saint Ambrose speaking both